This is both disgusting and typical. Disgusting for the overt Anti-semitism and typical in the way his demands were met with little media coverage it has received thus far (none outside of NRO that we saw).
Complete jackass and non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Muqtedar Khan, sent the email below to organizers of a panel discussion on anti-Americanism in the Middle East expressing his discomfort over sharing the stage with a Jew, Asaf Romirowsky, who had served in the Israeli Defense Forces.
We’re so sorry this bigot is uncomfortable! Actually, we’re disgusted by him, the fact that he got his way (which is a new level of disgust for the University of Delaware) and disgusted that Brookings would hire and keep on staff such a person.
If you agree that Brookings, a non-profit organization, should not condone such bigotry, let them know here.
All the little blogs are abuzz with this story. But why?
Anti-Israel policy people are censored all the time.
It almost seems like the IDF guy who wanted to speak designed this in order to create the problem.
Dr. Khan has really done nothing wrong and it is a joke to blow this up so much
Shame on this blog and others..
Will this comment also be deleted?
No, it won’t. What he did wrong was say he wouldn’t even share the stage with someone who had served in the IDF. How is that creating the problem? Did he create it by being Jewish? Tough shit, it’s a pannel discussion, he’s an expert. If you can’t shed your bigotry at least check it at the door. But biggest problem we have with this is that the University said ok. WTF? Shame on them, and shame on you if you don’t think this is an outrage but would if the roles were reversed. It is obscene either way.
My letter to President Harker
Dear President Harker,
I have written you before in the strategic planning suggestion box many times. This time I am writing to voice my support for Professor Dr. Khan. Although I am a Muslim that disagrees with his Islamic views, I am able to seperate that fact from acknowledging he is an incredible asset to our Political Science Department.
Recently he voiced his reservations about a last-minute appearance by an Israeli Defense Force speaker to appear on the panel of an event involved weeks of planning.
“National Review Online” and “Campus Watch,” two neoconservative biased organizations, began a media campaign to create problems for Dr. Khan, generating such headlines as “Jew-hating Muslim boots IDF member from panel”
As a UD student and community member, I would hope we could denounce organizations like Campus Watch and NRO for their biased and manipulative rhetoric.
Drew Marshall
2 of the speakers on the panel were Jewish…
(Kaufman and Cohen..)
Yeah, and Khan and Kaufman are close friends who invite each other over for dinner. Obviously this was a political statement against the IDF, and you are only perpetuating the notion that any time someone takes a political stance against Israeli policy, they run the risk of being labeled an “anti-semite,” which creates a terrible image.
You should seriously do your research before writing an entry like this.
Also, Khan did not get the man canceled. He was merely rescheduled, and Asaf is appearing at a panel on a later date.
It is really surprising that in a free thinking society like ours, Muqtedar Khan is being pilloried for just saying he was uncomfortable with a member of the IDF.
FYI Dr Khan is a very liberal and moderate human, not just under the category of Muslim. He has, on many occasions, been very critical of Muslim extremists. He has also very often called for dialogue on many issues concerning Muslims, such as the Palestine-Israel issue, the issue of extremism, etc. In fact I have heard Dr Khan speak out in favor of jews on many an occasion.
These attacks on Dr Khan are very biased and unfair.
That panel discussion at the University of Delaware was part of Islamofascism week, and I presume the organizers and their supporters wanted Dr Khan to roll over and not express any form of discomfort with the whole process.
It is the same as being uncomfortable in sharing stage with Ahmedinejad